


visible

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Fictober 2019, Fluff, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 08:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21072116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Nick is nervous. Ellie asks him why.





	visible

**Author's Note:**

> For day 12 “what if I don’t see it?”

“Why are you so nervous?” 

Nick stopped pacing the floor of their apartment at the sound of Ellie’s voice. She was standing in their bedroom doorway, coat over her arm, looking at him as if she’d never seen him before. “What?” Nick affected a laugh. “I’m not nervous. Why would I be nervous?” 

“That’s what I’m wondering.” Ellie narrowed her eyes and he knew she wasn’t going to let it go. “But why else would you be wearing a groove into our floor?” He didn’t say anything and she crossed her arms over her chest, adopting the stance she used whenever she was settling in for a fight. 

“Because!” Nick threw up his hands. “What if I don’t see it? What if it’s like those magic eye patterns where everyone stares at it and it becomes this beautiful picture because, Ellie, I suck at those. Why are you smiling? I’m pouring out my heart here and you’re smiling!”

But the longer he spoke, the more he was smiling too and by the end, he was actually well on the way to chuckling. He got a little more of the way there when Ellie came over to him and slipped her arms around his waist. 

“You’re nervous,” she said quietly. 

He huffed out a laugh but he didn’t deny it. Not when terrified was more on the money. “This is my first test as a dad, Ellie,” he said, feeling only mildly guilty when tears came to her eyes. She was crying at toilet paper commercials on television these days. “I don’t want to screw it up.” 

“You won’t.” She laid her head on his shoulder, exhaled a shaky breath. “You’re going to be an amazing dad.” 

He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe her more than anything. And yet, there was still that nagging sense of doubt. “How can you be so sure?” 

Ellie stared up at him, her eyes unblinking. “I have faith in you,” she said simply and Nick found himself thinking suddenly that maybe, just maybe, that would be enough. 

“Come on.” He kissed the top of her head, sliding his hand into hers. “Let’s go see our kid.” 

Later, it turned out that Ellie wasn’t the only one who cried over something that was clearly, wonderfully visible on a small television screen. She was the one, however, who wasted no time telling half of NCIS about it but Nick was too happy to care.


End file.
